Bradley Beal Makes Decision, Will Join Clippers After Suns Buyout

After weeks of speculation, Bradley Beal and the Phoenix Suns have finally agreed to a contract buyout. The three-time NBA All-Star will join the LA Clippers on a two-year, $11 million deal upon clearing waivers. This news, which has been considered an inevitability by many around the league, was first reported on Wednesday by ESPN’s Shams Charania.

Beal was acquired by Phoenix in 2023 from the Washington Wizards. When the Suns made this move, they also acquired the remaining four years on Beal’s five-year, $251 million contract he signed in 2022. This deal came with a no-trade clause, which in addition to its size, made a trade out of Phoenix next to impossible for the Suns.

This is what led to the possibility of a buyout, which finally took place on Wednesday. When it first became known Beal could be entering unrestricted free agency, the Clippers were immediately considered around the league to be a strong suitor. LA then dealt Norman Powell to the Miami Heat, which officially cleared the way for a different 32-year-old shooting guard to enter the mix.

LA Clippers guard Kawhi Leonard (2) and Phoenix Suns guard Bradley Beal (3) at Footprint Center. | Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Powell started all 60 games he appeared in for the Clippers last season, averaging a career-high 21.8 points. While things can change, Beal is currently expected to occupy that recently vacated starting spot.

Prior to last season, Beal had started every game he appeared in since the 2016-17 season. Of his 801 career NBA games, 752 have come as a starter. When former Suns head coach Mike Budenholzer made the decision in January to bench Beal, it was clear the former All-NBA guard was less than thrilled with the move.

“I’m a starter in the league,” Beal said in January. “I firmly believe that. I don’t believe — no disrespect — I’m a starter. That’s what I firmly believe. But coach made his decision. I’m not gonna sit here and argue with him. I’m not gonna sit here and be a distraction… He made his decision. I live with it… I just gotta go out and play my game and do what I do. Whatever happens from there, happens from there.”

"A little difficult."

Bradley Beal was surprised by benching, said he wasn't given an indication about it.

"Coach made a decision. I'm not going to sit there and argue with him. I'm not going to sit here and be a distraction. I'm not going to sit here and be an asshole." #Suns pic.twitter.com/wBBTNTDWEG
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) January 7, 2025

In 15 games off the bench last season, Beal averaged 16.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists on 52.9% from the field and 40.7% from 3-point range. He averaged 30.9 minutes per game when coming off the bench, which was just a slight dip from his 32.6 as a starter.

Should the Clippers’ roster remain mostly unchanged between now and training camp, Beal is expected to begin the season starting alongside James Harden in the backcourt. This would pair Harden and Beal with a frontcourt of Kawhi Leonard, John Collins, and Ivica Zubac.

This is a different look from what the Clippers had last season. Following Leonard’s return, LA’s most-used five-man group was Harden, Dunn, Powell, Leonard, and Zubac. This lineup played 286 minutes together, outscoring opponents by 9.5 points per 100 possessions, adding a 107.9 defensive rating that ranked sixth in the NBA among all five-man groups with that many minutes together. That lineup also posted a 117.3 offensive rating that ranked fifth by the same criteria.

Kawhi Leonard says Kris Dunn and his teammates motivate him defensively:

“I have to give credit to our coaching staff. Starting with JVG… It’s guys on the floor that want to guard. They’re not just pointing at me and telling me to take him… They motivate me defensively.… pic.twitter.com/vWMyTVa6VN
— Joey Linn (@joeylinn_) April 25, 2025

As a team, the 2024-25 Clippers ranked third in defense. Beal has not been part of many teams like this in his NBA career. The 2015-16 Wizards finished 14th in defensive rating (per Basketball Reference). Since then, Beal has been on just one team that finished in the top-half of the league defensively. It was the 2023-24 Suns who ranked 13th with a 114.6 defensive rating.

Now, this is certainly not the doing of just one player. But it does show that Beal is joining a team with different standards defensively than what he has been used to.

Kris Dunn and Derrick Jones Jr. were new additions to the Clippers last season, and one or both of them were featured in every starting lineup. The additions of Beal and Collins will likely move both to the bench, which could present defensive challenges for the Clippers to begin games. While a Leonard-Collins-Zubac frontline has the potential to alleviate some of the concerns with a Harden-Beal backcourt, how that actually plays out will be interesting to follow.

Collins is not known for defense, but his 6-foot-11 wingspan and elite athleticism could pair well with Leonard and Zubac. Of the 24 Utah Jazz two-man combinations last season that registered at least 500 minutes together, only three had a positive net rating. All three included Collins, with one being his pairing alongside Walker Kessler.

LA also has the option to start Jones over Collins. The argument for doing this would be what Jones brings at the point of attack defensively, which is a legitimate concern if the Clippers bench both he and Dunn. Asking Leonard to handle those duties for an entire season is not realistic, despite his defensive prowess, and neither Beal nor Harden are particularly well-rounded in that area.

That said, Clippers assistant Jeff Van Gundy has already shown the ability to get the most out of players on the defensive end, and Beal is coming off a season in which he rated in the 95th percentile as a perimeter isolation defender — albeit with very poor ball screen navigation (via BBall Index).

Starting small with Dunn in for Collins is also an option, but with Lawrence Frank's recent comments about the acquisition of Jones allowing Leonard to slide back to small forward, that feels less likely. Regardless, the Clippers have a few options here for starting games.

That is the defensive outlook for LA with Beal in the mix, but there is another side of the ball. It’s one Beal has thrived on for his entire NBA career. While he is four seasons removed from a career-high 31.3 points in 2021, Beal is still a very talented and efficient scorer. His 17.0 points last season were the fewest since his third NBA season (2015), but he needed just 13.1 attempts per game to get there, converting on 49.7% from the field and 38.6% from three.

In their opening round loss to the Denver Nuggets, the Clippers had difficulty navigating David Adelman's willingness to leave both Dunn and Jones wide open. The two combined to shoot 16-for-48 (33.3%) from three, which all things considered could be worse, but Denver was willing to live with this and it made life more difficult for both Harden and Leonard.

Beal will not be guarded this way. There is a lot of reason for optimism about his fit offensively on the Clippers. While many will understandably point to the failed trio of Beal alongside Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, the post gravity of Zubac and the playmaking of Harden are two weapons LA possesses that Phoenix did not. Throw in a healthy Leonard from day one, and the Clippers could have a really complete group.

Most importantly, as has been the case with every recent move for the Clippers, Beal does not come with a longterm commitment. LA has the ability to give this core a two-year off ramp before reassessing in the summer of 2027 with a nearly clean cap sheet. In the meantime, the organization plans to remain competitive in a Western Conference that doesn't have a clear-cut second-best team behind the defending champions.

As they continue their pursuit of winning games and remaining flexible, the Clippers are bringing in Beal who aligns with both goals.